Creating a New Religion
James Redfield has started a new religion with his book The Celestine Prophecy1, bringing to mind the story of how L. Ron Hubbard2 created Scientology. At first I was inclined to dismiss Redfield's book as trivial, but then I discovered that 20 million people had read it and took it very seriously. So I had to read the book a second time to try and figure out why...
The Celestine Prophecy, we are told, is an adventure. It is a work of fiction wherein the author expresses his firm belief that "...mankind is on this planet to consciously evolve..." In the book Father Sanchez says: "Our children take our level of vibration and raise it even higher. This is how we, as humans, continue to evolve."
What a lot of utter nonsense!!! Yes, it is evident that the human species has evolved and is apparently still evolving. And, no doubt, this evolutionary process applies to man's consciousness as well as his body. But there is nothing whatsoever to suggest that the main reason mankind is here is to consciously evolve, that there is some sort of grand plan for mankind, or even that evolution has a particular direction3. This is simply the author's wild fantasy. Evolution has no plan. It just happens! We can try and make some predictions for the future of the human race, and we may even be able to influence things to some extent, but ultimately we don't know where the evolutionary process will take homo sapiens.
James Redfield's recipe book with its "10 insights" cooks up a boring old stew of worn-out spiritual ideas with some New Age "vibrations" thrown in the pot for good measure. He tells us there is a supernatural or spiritual force willing to guide mankind, if only we will recognise that it is there and accept its guidance. Certainly nothing new in that - echoes of Star Wars and "may the force be with you"!
Why are so many people taken in by this type of gibberish? The reason appears to be that we are all, to a greater or lesser extent, born with the need to believe. In The God Gene4, Dean Hamer demonstrates scientifically that spirituality originates from within. The predisposition to faith and religion is inherited. It's in a person's genes. Hamer tells us that spirituality "...doesn't result from outside influences. Contrary to what many people might believe, children don't learn to be spiritual from their parents, teachers, priests, imams, ministers, or rabbis, nor from their culture or society."
For me personally, one of the most annoying aspects of the book is its contention that coincidences are special events sent to us by a supernatural spiritual force. Father Sanchez says: "I was amazed at the series of coincidences that bought you face to face with the different insights". Charlene says the first insight is "when we become conscious of the coincidences in our lives" and "these coincidences are happening more and more frequently" and it is "as though our lives had been guided by some unexplained force".
I find it difficult to understand why anyone can believe that a coincidence is a meaningful event, that it is trying to tell us something and that coincidences mark turning points in one's life. There is nothing mysterious or mystical about coincidences. They happen everywhere all the time! Most coincidences go unnoticed. It is only when we notice an occurrence that we label it a "coincidence". If we deem the coincidence to be unlikely then we may get the feeling that it is spooky. But it's really nothing more that a value judgment. It's not special and there is no message.
The book also makes much of the importance of intuition and following your intuition. I can't agree with this advice either. Coming from our subconscious mind, intuition can be useful, but it is only a "gut feeling" and is very often wrong. Intuition is no substitute for clear, logical thinking based on examination of physical evidence.
The Celestine Prophecy finds fault with organised religion in general, then proposes to replace it with Redfield's own system. He writes of his new priesthood that "...our incomes will remain stable because of the people who are giving us money for the insights we provide." So it seems we are expected to pay these people for their words of wisdom! There is an obvious pattern here: people needing to believe in something and others coming forward to meet this need, usually at a price. And it's not just about giving them your money. You could also be giving up your freedom and individuality. In the final analysis it's about power - an elite minority wanting to control the lives of others.
1. James Redfield, The Celestine Prophecy, Bantam Melbourne 1994
2. Read more about L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology on Wikipedea
3. Evolution regresses in Kornbluth's The Marching Morons, Galaxy April 1951
4. Dean Hamer, The God Gene, Anchor UK 2005
5. Read more about The Celestine Prophecy on Wikipedia
6. Pay a visit to James Redfield's Celestine Vision website
The Celestine Prophecy, we are told, is an adventure. It is a work of fiction wherein the author expresses his firm belief that "...mankind is on this planet to consciously evolve..." In the book Father Sanchez says: "Our children take our level of vibration and raise it even higher. This is how we, as humans, continue to evolve."
What a lot of utter nonsense!!! Yes, it is evident that the human species has evolved and is apparently still evolving. And, no doubt, this evolutionary process applies to man's consciousness as well as his body. But there is nothing whatsoever to suggest that the main reason mankind is here is to consciously evolve, that there is some sort of grand plan for mankind, or even that evolution has a particular direction3. This is simply the author's wild fantasy. Evolution has no plan. It just happens! We can try and make some predictions for the future of the human race, and we may even be able to influence things to some extent, but ultimately we don't know where the evolutionary process will take homo sapiens.
James Redfield's recipe book with its "10 insights" cooks up a boring old stew of worn-out spiritual ideas with some New Age "vibrations" thrown in the pot for good measure. He tells us there is a supernatural or spiritual force willing to guide mankind, if only we will recognise that it is there and accept its guidance. Certainly nothing new in that - echoes of Star Wars and "may the force be with you"!
Why are so many people taken in by this type of gibberish? The reason appears to be that we are all, to a greater or lesser extent, born with the need to believe. In The God Gene4, Dean Hamer demonstrates scientifically that spirituality originates from within. The predisposition to faith and religion is inherited. It's in a person's genes. Hamer tells us that spirituality "...doesn't result from outside influences. Contrary to what many people might believe, children don't learn to be spiritual from their parents, teachers, priests, imams, ministers, or rabbis, nor from their culture or society."
For me personally, one of the most annoying aspects of the book is its contention that coincidences are special events sent to us by a supernatural spiritual force. Father Sanchez says: "I was amazed at the series of coincidences that bought you face to face with the different insights". Charlene says the first insight is "when we become conscious of the coincidences in our lives" and "these coincidences are happening more and more frequently" and it is "as though our lives had been guided by some unexplained force".
I find it difficult to understand why anyone can believe that a coincidence is a meaningful event, that it is trying to tell us something and that coincidences mark turning points in one's life. There is nothing mysterious or mystical about coincidences. They happen everywhere all the time! Most coincidences go unnoticed. It is only when we notice an occurrence that we label it a "coincidence". If we deem the coincidence to be unlikely then we may get the feeling that it is spooky. But it's really nothing more that a value judgment. It's not special and there is no message.
The book also makes much of the importance of intuition and following your intuition. I can't agree with this advice either. Coming from our subconscious mind, intuition can be useful, but it is only a "gut feeling" and is very often wrong. Intuition is no substitute for clear, logical thinking based on examination of physical evidence.
The Celestine Prophecy finds fault with organised religion in general, then proposes to replace it with Redfield's own system. He writes of his new priesthood that "...our incomes will remain stable because of the people who are giving us money for the insights we provide." So it seems we are expected to pay these people for their words of wisdom! There is an obvious pattern here: people needing to believe in something and others coming forward to meet this need, usually at a price. And it's not just about giving them your money. You could also be giving up your freedom and individuality. In the final analysis it's about power - an elite minority wanting to control the lives of others.
1. James Redfield, The Celestine Prophecy, Bantam Melbourne 1994
2. Read more about L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology on Wikipedea
3. Evolution regresses in Kornbluth's The Marching Morons, Galaxy April 1951
4. Dean Hamer, The God Gene, Anchor UK 2005
5. Read more about The Celestine Prophecy on Wikipedia
6. Pay a visit to James Redfield's Celestine Vision website
posted by Robert Charroux at
2:53 PM
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